Sarah Lucas: SITUATION Absolute Beach Man Rubble

2 October – 15 December 2013, Galleries 1, 8 & Victor Petitgas Gallery (Gallery 9)
Supported by Louis Vuitton

The Whitechapel Gallery presents the first major solo exhibition in London of renowned artist Sarah Lucas. Bringing together over two decades of sculpture, installation and photography, SITUATION explores Lucas’s remarkable career and assesses the vital role she plays in British art.

Since the late 1980s, Lucas has created sculptures and installations that focus on the body. Drawing upon everyday materials such as cigarettes, tights, furniture and vegetables, Lucas probes representations of gender, sexuality and national identity. Her work alludes to historic movements such as Pop Art and Arte Povera while addressing the universal concerns of nature and mortality.

SITUATION features Lucas’s iconic works which use inanimate objects to take the shape of bodies, including Two Fried Eggs and a Kebab (1992) and Spinster (2000). Also shown are early sculptures such as Still Life (1992), Where does it all end? (1994) and Get Hold of This (1994) as well as important works from the last decade including Unknown Soldier (2003), The King (2008) and Jubilee (2012).

In recent years Lucas’s work combines fragments of the body with forms and materials found in nature. The exhibition includes new works called NUDS (2009-present); stuffed tights moulded into sculptures suggestive of embracing bodies, their intertwined forms offset by plinths of concrete breeze blocks.

Responding to the architecture of the Whitechapel Gallery, Sarah Lucas has created an installation which reconsiders the affinities and dialogues between earlier works and new sculptures. The exhibition explores the range of her work, from sculptures which assemble found objects to recent works in concrete, plaster and bronze, using the techniques of casting and construction. The show expands on Lucas’ year-long project SITUATION in which she constructed a series of sculptural installations in a space above Sadie Coles HQ in London.

Notes for Editors
– Sarah Lucas was born in London in 1962. She was one of the leading figures in a generation of young British artists who emerged during the 1990s. Lucas studied at the Working Men’s College, London (1982-3), London College of Printing (1983-4) and at Goldsmiths College, London (1984-7). In 1988 Sarah Lucas took part in the influential group show Freeze, curated by Damien Hirst, and her first solo exhibition was held at City Racing in 1992. In 1993 Lucas set up The Shop with Tracey Emin, a six-month project in an empty retail-outlet on Bethnal Green Road, London.
– Sarah Lucas has exhibited extensively and major solo exhibitions include: Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam (1996); Car Park, Museum Ludwig, Cologne (1997); Tate Liverpool; Kunsthalle Zurich, Kunstverein Hamburg (2005); LUCAS-BOSCH-GELATIN, Kunsthalle Krems, Austria (2011); Ordinary Things, Henry Moore Institute, Leeds (2012) and SITUATION, Sadie Coles HQ London (2012 – 2013). Group exhibitions include: Sensation: Young British Artists in the Saatchi Collection, Royal Academy of Art, London (1997); The British Art Show 5 (2000); Hamster Wheel, Venice Biennale, Venice (2007); Modern British Sculpture, Royal Academy of Arts, London (2011) and Free: Art by offenders, secure patients and detainees, curated by Sarah Lucas, Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, London (2012).
– In 2013, Sarah Lucas participated in the Venice Biennale and the Manchester International Festival. Her work will be included  in the Carnegie International, Pittsburgh and she will have a solo exhibition at the Secession, Vienna in November. Sarah Lucas lives and works in Suffolk, UK.
– SITUATION  is curated by Iwona Blazwick OBE, former Whitechapel Gallery Director, with assistance from Poppy Bowers, Assistant Curator.
– SITUATION is accompanied by a fully illustrated catalogue conceived in close collaboration with the artist. The catalogue combines scholarly texts, previously unpublished documentation of the SITUATION series and photographs of the Whitechapel Gallery installation.
– Sarah Lucas is represented by Sadie Coles HQ, London; Gladstone Gallery, New York; Contemporary Fine Arts, Berlin and Kurimanzutto, Mexico City.
– Louis Vuitton and art
For over 155 years, Louis Vuitton has entertained a close relationship with art.  Symbolising French elegance and art de vivre, the Maison Louis Vuitton has always collaborated with the best engineers, decorators and artists.  Marc Jacobs, artistic director since 1997, has given renewed impetus to Louis Vuitton’s ties with art by initiating partnerships with internationally renowned artists such as Stephen Sprouse, Takashi Murakami and Richard Prince, further strengthening the Maison’s commitment to developing the dialogue between luxury and contemporary art.
– About Louis Vuitton
Founded in Paris in 1854, Louis Vuitton is synonymous with the art of travel. Its iconic trunks, luggage, and bags have accompanied journeys throughout time. With the arrival of Artistic Director Marc Jacobs in 1997, Louis Vuitton extended its expertise to ready-to-wear, shoes, accessories, watches and jewellery, available in its exclusive network of stores located all over the world.

Visitor Information
Opening times: Tuesday – Sunday, 11am – 6pm, Thursdays, 11am – 9pm.  Admission free. Whitechapel Gallery, 77 – 82 Whitechapel High Street, London E1 7QX. Nearest London Underground Station: Aldgate East, Liverpool Street, Tower Gateway DLR. T + 44 (0) 20 7522 7888 info@whitechapelgallery.org whitechapelgallery.org